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Farming bees. Buzzzz

Farming bees. Buzzzz

Have you ever wondered what a bee farm looks like? This clip shows how bee farmers (apiarists) look after their bees. Watch the bee hives being opened and see the honey being collected. View the machinery used to collect and bottle the honey.

Things to think about

1

Before viewing

Have you ever watched a honey bee visiting flowers? What do you think the bee is doing? How do bees help us? How do they help plants? Think about why people would want to look after bees.

2

As you view

What do bees collect from flowers to make honey? Why do bees make honey?

Notice what the hives look like inside. How is the honey stored in the hives?

In the factory watch how the machine spins the frames to get the honey out.

3

After viewing

Apiarists (bee farmers) move the hives from time to time. What do they move the hives closer to? How might this help bees meet their needs?

How do bees act during the day compared to at night? How might bees be affected by different seasons?

Draw a picture to show what you know about bees and how they make honey.

What do apiarists need to know so they can do their job well?

4

Next steps

The frames go into machines which extract (take out) the honey. How do they do this? What could you do to demonstrate how this works? (Hint: can you find something that 'spins' in your kitchen or in the playground?)

Experiment outside with a bucket containing a small amount of water. Hold the handle and swing the bucket fast in a large circle. What happens to the water?

Transcript

00:00:07:12NARRATOR:This is a bee farm where the farmer keeps his bee communities in special boxes called hives. Bee farmers are called apiarists. The bees make honey inside the hives and the apiarist collects their extra honey. Sometimes the hives are several storeys high. They're painted white to keep the cool inside. The entrance is at the bottom of the hive. Most bee farmers move their bees from place to place, to where the flowers are. This is called following the honey flow. The hives are heavy. A special hoist lifts them onto the truck. The hives are loaded at the end of the day because that's when the bees come home. They'll spend the night creating honey from all of the nectar they've collected. Bees never stop working. The truck won't drive off until it's dark. The beekeeper might have to travel huge distances to find places where there are lots of flowers. He has to be careful not to stop in any brightly lit areas, like service stations, because the bees will think it's morning and start to fly off looking for flowers. The bee farmer doesn't want to lose any of his bees. By the morning, the hives will be in their new spot. When the sun's up, the scouts will fly off to find nectar to produce more honey for their colony. Lots of honey here. Time for the apiarist to collect it.00:02:17:21PARROT:Oh, hang on. These bees sting. Aren't beekeepers scared they could get stung when they are taking the honey?00:02:25:13NARRATOR:No, they're not scared. But some try to protect themselves by covering up completely. Others just use the smoker. The smoke makes the bees think there's a bushfire. They fill up with honey so that if they have to leave they will have lots of food until they make a new home. Because they're full of food, they're less likely to sting. If a bee stings, it dies. That's why it only stings if its life or its hive is in danger. Inside each hive, there are lots of separate frames. The bees build wax honeycomb onto these frames and fill them with honey so honeycomb is like hundreds of tiny jars of honey, some with their lids on. These frames are full of honey so out they come. Not all the frames are removed because the bees need some food to eat. Boxes of honey-filled frames go off to the factory. This man's cleaning the wax off the top of the frames so they'll fit into this capping machine. It has a heated knife that cuts the wax caps off the honey cells. Now the honey can come out. This machine is called the extractor. It goes around and around so fast that the liquid honey is thrown out of the honeycombed. Here it comes. The honey still has bits of wax in it. This machine separates the honey from the wax. It's called a centrifuge. The pure honey ends up in big drums that the beekeeper sells to packers. They put the honey into containers. Some honey goes to small factories. Some honey goes to very big factories. Then it's off to the shops for us to buy and eat, however we like it.00:07:24:15PARROT:Oh, I feel sick! I love honey but I think I ate too much. Oh!

For teachers

Year 1 Science Strand: Science UnderstandingSubstrand: Biological sciencesContent code: ACSSU211Description: Living things live in different places where their needs are met

Year 1 Science Strand: Science as a Human EndeavourSubstrand: Use and influence of scienceContent code: ACSHE022Description: People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things

Year F Science Strand: Science UnderstandingSubstrand: Biological sciencesContent code: ACSSU002Description: Living things have basic needs, including food and water

What to view next:

Farming bees. Buzzzz

Overview

Have you ever wondered what a bee farm looks like? This clip shows how bee farmers (apiarists) look after their bees. Watch the bee hives being opened and see the honey being collected. View the machinery used to collect and bottle the honey.

Things to think about

Before viewing

Have you ever watched a honey bee visiting flowers? What do you think the bee is doing? How do bees help us? How do they help plants? Think about why people would want to look after bees.

2

As you view

What do bees collect from flowers to make honey? Why do bees make honey?

Notice what the hives look like inside. How is the honey stored in the hives?

In the factory watch how the machine spins the frames to get the honey out.

3

After viewing

Apiarists (bee farmers) move the hives from time to time. What do they move the hives closer to? How might this help bees meet their needs?

How do bees act during the day compared to at night? How might bees be affected by different seasons?

Draw a picture to show what you know about bees and how they make honey.

What do apiarists need to know so they can do their job well?

4

Next steps

The frames go into machines which extract (take out) the honey. How do they do this? What could you do to demonstrate how this works? (Hint: can you find something that 'spins' in your kitchen or in the playground?)

Experiment outside with a bucket containing a small amount of water. Hold the handle and swing the bucket fast in a large circle. What happens to the water?

Transcript

00:00:07:12NARRATOR:This is a bee farm where the farmer keeps his bee communities in special boxes called hives. Bee farmers are called apiarists. The bees make honey inside the hives and the apiarist collects their extra honey. Sometimes the hives are several storeys high. They're painted white to keep the cool inside. The entrance is at the bottom of the hive. Most bee farmers move their bees from place to place, to where the flowers are. This is called following the honey flow. The hives are heavy. A special hoist lifts them onto the truck. The hives are loaded at the end of the day because that's when the bees come home. They'll spend the night creating honey from all of the nectar they've collected. Bees never stop working. The truck won't drive off until it's dark. The beekeeper might have to travel huge distances to find places where there are lots of flowers. He has to be careful not to stop in any brightly lit areas, like service stations, because the bees will think it's morning and start to fly off looking for flowers. The bee farmer doesn't want to lose any of his bees. By the morning, the hives will be in their new spot. When the sun's up, the scouts will fly off to find nectar to produce more honey for their colony. Lots of honey here. Time for the apiarist to collect it.00:02:17:21PARROT:Oh, hang on. These bees sting. Aren't beekeepers scared they could get stung when they are taking the honey?00:02:25:13NARRATOR:No, they're not scared. But some try to protect themselves by covering up completely. Others just use the smoker. The smoke makes the bees think there's a bushfire. They fill up with honey so that if they have to leave they will have lots of food until they make a new home. Because they're full of food, they're less likely to sting. If a bee stings, it dies. That's why it only stings if its life or its hive is in danger. Inside each hive, there are lots of separate frames. The bees build wax honeycomb onto these frames and fill them with honey so honeycomb is like hundreds of tiny jars of honey, some with their lids on. These frames are full of honey so out they come. Not all the frames are removed because the bees need some food to eat. Boxes of honey-filled frames go off to the factory. This man's cleaning the wax off the top of the frames so they'll fit into this capping machine. It has a heated knife that cuts the wax caps off the honey cells. Now the honey can come out. This machine is called the extractor. It goes around and around so fast that the liquid honey is thrown out of the honeycombed. Here it comes. The honey still has bits of wax in it. This machine separates the honey from the wax. It's called a centrifuge. The pure honey ends up in big drums that the beekeeper sells to packers. They put the honey into containers. Some honey goes to small factories. Some honey goes to very big factories. Then it's off to the shops for us to buy and eat, however we like it.00:07:24:15PARROT:Oh, I feel sick! I love honey but I think I ate too much. Oh!

For teachers

Science: Year 1Strand: Science UnderstandingSubstrand: Biological sciencesContent code: ACSSU211Content description:Living things live in different places where their needs are met

Science: Year 1Strand: Science as a Human EndeavourSubstrand: Use and influence of scienceContent code: ACSHE022Content description:People use science in their daily lives, including when caring for their environment and living things